Let’s call it what it is.
It used to be that if you played a game with constant updates (RPG, MMO, whatever) you had your main account that was stable in the game and those who wanted to test new additions would make a new toon and play it on the test server to work out bugs. This was an elective process and was more a function of development and not a core selling point of the game experience.
What I feel like is happening is that Blizzard has found a way to not only outsoucre the beta testing but disovered a way to have users pay for the privilage if they opt in for the battle pass. Granted for the $ the testers get pixels to show off but it doesn’t change the fact that what once used to be something only the faithful would participate in is now a game mechanic and it feels weird to me. I don’t mind testing. I don’t mind having to restart to test an element that will come over to the main game. What I do mind is that it’s being sold as a content generator when in all actuality its sole purpose seems to be trying out new stuff on a paying audience to bug fix.
If you want to call the test server “seasons” fine. Just don’t take 3 months on a feature that should be in the main game and don’t act like everyone is hardcore enough to want to reinvest literally weeks of time starting over to just discover how they are going to play a few weeks down the road.
This season could have easily been incorporated into the main game. The idea of overselling being a beta tester feels disingenuous to me.
Side note: I’m enjoying the game but the grind is real and not something I think the zeitgeist is going to endure. IMO